SMS vs Email vs Social ???

M

mailing

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Jan 18, 2014
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Afaik most people here hate on Facebook and try to build Email lists.
As CCarter always preaches it's of utmost importance to stay connected with your audience, ideally through a channel that isn't depending on anybody else (Facebook, etc).

What's currently the most effective method to stay connected, and what will it be in future?
It really looks like Facebook is killing the reach of page owners, but isn't it much easier to get a Facebook Like or twitter follower compared to an email double-optin or SMS verification?

Also, it seems to me that there is a shift from Email towards SMS. Email is so 1995 (is it really?) and the new social networks like WhatsApp, SnapChat, etc are only replying on SMS, and seems like Facebook is getting there, too.
Ofc it's a downside that you can't reach the users for free, but SMS is cheap nowadays and you have guaranteed deliverability.

What also could be considered is the lifetime of such data. E.g. might it be that an average person has a new cell number or email every X years?

I'm really not sure if I should stick with just Email when building a list, so I would appreciate any advise!!
 


I forgot to mention Media Buys/Retargeting:

There seem to be a lot of providers for cookie retargeting - fair enough.
My question is, is there any other ways to reach somebody besides cookies?
E.g. what about IP addresses or even full names/emails (in social networks)?
Are there any platforms that allow for targeting by such criteria? In other words, is there a way to reach somebody through media buys without a cookie?
 
Email. Email is free to get and since so many websites are reliant on it as the lowest common denominator for communicating with customers for free, the masses are not just going to abandon them altogether. Think about buying an eCommerce product from Amazon. Amazon is not going to send you the order details in SMS or on Facebook - they COULD, but SMS is limited in character size, and Facebook may start charging for routing it to it's users. Email for the most part is free.

Relying on a 3rd party means at some point they can charge you, exactly what they are doing with Facebook. Plus I doubt Amazon or GoDaddy is going to trust a 3rd party to deliver it's information. Anyone can get an email. Not Everyone has Facebook, Gasp! Not everyone has SMS or even a cellphone.

I also doubt users are going to want to receive commercial information or advertisement in their FB messages or Snapchat messaging.

My thing is to get the lowest common denominator, Name and email (which again is free to communicate with for the most part), then build up. Next round get address and phone number. If you want to implement another round of profiling get their FB, twitter, Snapchat or whatever the next round. But when you sit back and think about it, the only free communication tool of the bunch is email. Even SMS costs money to send or received for a portion of the population.

Maybe in some distant future when costs are lower than email, something else will pop up. Everyone that states they don't have an email is lying, since that means they can't do any online banking, buy insurance online, or use any eCommerce store. You haven't won their trust if they tell you they don't have an email.

Also, email may not really TOTALLY be 'free', but at Amazon's SES $1 per 1000 emails sent, it's the cheapest form of communication to date. You can use your own mailing server though for 'free'. ;) It's also the only one that's free to receive. Even a home address costs money to have that home. Cell phone costs money. Anything else is reliant on a 3rd party.​
 
CCarter said:
Email. Email is free to get and since so many websites are reliant on it as the lowest common denominator for communicating with customers for free, the masses are not just going to abandon them altogether. Think about buying an eCommerce product from Amazon. Amazon is not going to send you the order details in SMS or on Facebook - they COULD, but SMS is limited in character size, and Facebook may start charging for routing it to it's users. Email for the most part is free.

Relying on a 3rd party means at some point they can charge you, exactly what they are doing with Facebook. Plus I doubt Amazon or GoDaddy is going to trust a 3rd party to deliver it's information. Anyone can get an email. Not Everyone has Facebook, Gasp! Not everyone has SMS or even a cellphone.

I also doubt users are going to want to receive commercial information or advertisement in their FB messages or Snapchat messaging.

My thing is to get the lowest common denominator, Name and email (which again is free to communicate with for the most part), then build up. Next round get address and phone number. If you want to implement another round of profiling get their FB, twitter, Snapchat or whatever the next round. But when you sit back and think about it, the only free communication tool of the bunch is email. Even SMS costs money to send or received for a portion of the population.

Maybe in some distant future when costs are lower than email, something else will pop up. Everyone that states they don't have an email is lying, since that means they can't do any online banking, buy insurance online, or use any eCommerce store. You haven't won their trust if they tell you they don't have an email.

Also, email may not really TOTALLY be 'free', but at Amazon's SES $1 per 1000 emails sent, it's the cheapest form of communication to date. You can use your own mailing server though for 'free'. ;) It's also the only one that's free to receive. Even a home address costs money to have that home. Cell phone costs money. Anything else is reliant on a 3rd party.​
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Ok this makes 200% sense, thank you. In light of that, I can see email being around for many many years to come.

The amazon receipt example is a good one.
They certainly won't send it to snapchat or facebook, heh. Maybe Facebook Mail, but that's email again. Btw I believe Facebook has a stupid approach with their other box. Either nobody will use facebook mail, or the other box will become the new inbox.
 
BUt I think its better if you use a combination of facebook and email. Because most of the traffic comes from facebook and when they get to your site thats the time they provide their emails.
 
Present and Future is....

Definitely, Facebook/Twitter and other social networking sites give faster and better response than the other two means that you have mentioned. No one likes an email or SMS from an unknown number, or ads, they just delete it. Even if they know you and you are promoting through these two means, it won't generate the same result as social networks.
 
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